Varieties of the Tea PlantAll tea comes from the same tea plant, the Camellia Sinensis. However, there are actually three varieties of this plant, the China plant (C. sinensis sinensis), the Assam plant (C. sinensis assamica) and the Cambodia plant (C. sinensis parvifolia). The Chinese and Assamese are the two varieties that are most commonly used.
Chinese Variety – Camellia Sinensis Sinensis
The Chinese plant is a small leaved plant that will grow to about ten feet. It’s native to southeast China and was the first tea to be discovered, documented and used to produce tea. This plant produces some of the world’s most popular and well-known tea. The beverage produced by this plant are usually fragrant and flowery.
Assam Variety – Camellia Sinensis Assamica
The Assam variety of the tea plant is most predominantly grown in the Assam region of India but is native to India, Myanmar, Vietnam and China. It is the highest yielding by volume of the camellia sinensis. It is a single stemmed small tree with large leaves. In its wild form, it can reach to 65 feet. On the plantations it is kept to a height of about three feet. It is a lowland plant requiring heavy rainfall, good drainage and a temperate climate. It is one of the two original tea plants. All Assam and most Ceylon teas are from this plant. The beverage produces by this plant is usually malty and earthy.
Cambodian Varieity – Camellia Sinensis Parviflora
The leaves of the Cambodian variety tea plant are medium size, between the small China leaf and the large Assam leaf. It’s a small tree with several stems and is often referred to as the hybrid of the China and Assam plants.
Leaf size is the predominant standard for classifying tea plants. Leaves can range from one to six inches long and one half to two inches wide. The unprocessed leaf contains about 4% caffeine. The age and size of different leaves are composed of different chemical compositions and, therefore, produce an entirely different product. It is the youngest light green leaves with the short white hairs on the underside that are the preference for tea production.
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